Malloy stands on transportation record

Updated 9:54 pm, Monday, August 25, 2014

WETHERSFIELD -- Gov. Dannel P. Malloy displayed the power of his incumbency Tuesday, picking a state bridge-replacement project to underscore his commitment to Connecticut's transportation infrastructure.

While the timing of his news conference seemed more political than informational -- Malloy debates Republican Tom Foley Wednesday night in Norwich -- the setting allowed the governor to distance himself from federal reports that were highly critical of the state's aging highways and bridges.

The late-morning event included a backdrop of workers building new foundations for an eventual two-lane span replacement on Middletown Avenue over Goff Brook, at the border with Rocky Hill.

Even a Republican lawmaker -- Rep. David Scribner, of Brookfield, ranking member of the legislative Transportation Committee -- was invited, although he distanced himself from fulminating gubernatorial politics.

Malloy addressed lingering Republican criticism on his tactics of transferring nearly $200 million from the state's dedicated transportation fund into the General Fund.

"Over the last three and a half years we have changed course," Malloy said, stressing that "decades of neglect" created the problems. "In fact, the state's five-year capital transportation infrastructure investment plan represents 165 percent of the 2010 transit plan," he told a dozen reporters and TV photographers.

Touting upgrade funding

"We're actually putting more money from the General Fund into transportation," Malloy said. "We are spending more General Fund money and more state bonded money on transportation than any other administration."

Malloy, standing behind a podium with the state seal, was next to a campaign-style sign on which was written, "Jobs! Jobs! Job! It's all about the Jobs!"

He highlighted his record of contributing $1.3 billion in General Fund revenue to the Special Transportation Fund since he took office in January 2010; and adding $25 million for repairs and replacements among the 3,400 local bridges and culverts.

Republicans, including Foley and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, the loser of the recent GOP primary for governor, have criticized Malloy for removing about $189 million from the transit fund to balance the General Fund.

"This year's funding reflects the third-consecutive year of increases in road-resurfacing funding and miles -- a 15 percent increase since 2012, to be exact," Malloy said, while workers excavating for new bridge footings toiled down the river bank, behind a coffer dam protecting them from Goff Brook, which runs into the Connecticut River about a half mile to the east. "Maintaining our roads and bridges is something that we take very seriously."

Legislative support

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee and former mayor of his town on the other side of the creek, said state assistance in local road projects is crucial. "It is so important as a public safety issue and basically getting people from point A to point B," he said. "And this administration has taken the bull by the horns and said we're going to do it and we're going to do it quickly."

Scribner, the senior Republican minority member of the committee, stressed the panel is one of the most bipartisan in the General Assembly and is committed to the long-term infrastructure improvements and the need to demonstrate to the federal government the effectiveness of investments.

"This is just another indication of where the Legislature has initiated the funding and the commitments for these programs to exist," Scribner said when asked for a reaction to Malloy's event. "The administration is implementing them and identifying the importance of it. I'd rather that it not be political because we worked together to accomplish this."

"But I'll say that it got done when I was governor," Malloy added with a grin. Asked whether his news conference was a campaign event or a transportation event, Malloy said it was the latter.

"Some people say things, politically," he said, referring to Foley. "I suppose you could make out of it anything you want. I certainly am proud of our record with respect to transportation. And I don't mind calling attention to it. I know what we're doing, and I know what state I found the state in when I became governor, and I have been steadfast in my commitment on transportation, including the numbers that we're referencing. I've not publicly questioned how much money we've put into transit. He has."

Questioning motives

Chris Cooper, spokesman for Foley, who spent the day running through the Wednesday night debate format in Norwich Free Academy, called the governor's news conference "transparently political," since the money for the bridge replacement was approved four months ago.

"This political stunt is sure to backfire with commuters who know that Malloy's reckless raiding of the Special Transportation Fund has resulted in Connecticut having the worst roads and bridges in the nation according to the White House -- with 73 percent of our roads in `poor or mediocre condition' and nearly 10 percent of our bridges classified as `structurally deficient,' " Cooper said.

"With traffic congestion getting worse each day and Metro-North service continuing to deteriorate, I'm surprised the governor would even want to raise the subject of transportation," he said in a statement.